Drumroll please...

More than 2,500 people lined up outside Cori’s Lucky Lotto on Wantagh Avenue on Jan. 13 to take part in the Powerball jackpot. With only a few hours left until the reveal of the winning numbers, Wantagh residents scrambled to buy tickets before 11 p.m. and enter to win a record-shattering $1.5 billion with a $930 million cash value.

“While they are paying they are thinking about their dreams, so they’re happy,” Co-manager Semal Patel said with a laugh. “They play with a smile on there face thinking they can win. But hey, someone has to win, right? It’s all an opportunity and a chance to change your future.”

The New York Lottery wanted to keep the momentum going until the numbers were posted, so to make it happen, they hosted a marathon drumroll session across the state, where Powerball participation was particularly high. Drum majors stood outside of Cori’s Lucky Lotto on Wantagh Ave. drumming away into the late hours of the night.

Although no one has stepped forward yet to claim a share, everyone now knows where the winning tickets were sold: a 7-Eleven in Chino Hills, Calif.; Naifeh’s Food Mart in Munford, Tenn.; and a Publix grocery in Melbourne Beach, Fla. Although New Yorkers only had a 1-in-292.2 million chance of winning, that didn’t stop anyone from testing their luck. Like they say, you have to be in it to win it!